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Set small goals that are easy to achieve

Relaxing: Hemant in a meditative mode

Relaxing with Meditation: Hemanth in a reflective mode

At 22 years old he led the most sedentary lifestyle. While sitting down all day may seem harmless, but, he was not surprised that it was having a negative impact on his health. Being aware of the problem and not knowing how to go about rectifying the problem… is the story of most people’s lives. However, Hemanth Kumar did not lose heart and found a way out to get motivated and get on his path to fitness. His story in his own words.

I am a mechanical engineer and I have been working in shifts. Shift work means sleep and food patterns are erratic. Further due to lack of any form of exercise or physical activity, I would always feel lethargic. So much so that I would not be interested in doing anything. As for my daily diet, I would have 3 heavy meals namely breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It was no surprise for me that sitting behind a desk, commuting or relaxing on the couch for too many hours a day can be harmful to my health, but what I was not aware of was the extent of havoc it is causing my body. I realized it while I was reading an article on health.

After I finished reading it I was scared for myself as I was young and could not take it lightly. I had to do something to change my lifestyle before my condition got worse. I also read that most health professionals recommend walking 10,000 steps a day (approximately 5 miles = 8 Km). It is the ideal goal to set for improving health and reducing the health risks caused by inactivity.

This statement got me thinking and I started researching on various sites like Amazon and the likes looking for a fitness tracker. I was wanting a health gadget that could get me on track. Something that could track my fitness and other aspects. And, I came across GOQii. I read several reviews and content on GOQii. I was convinced with what I read. The best part was that it came with expert advice from a coach. I was relieved that there will be somebody to monitor my progress. So I was not going to be alone on my path to a healthy lifestyle.

GOQii is also about getting people to change their lifestyles without doing anything drastic. Changes are brought about purely through new healthy habit formation and letting go of your old unhealthy habits. I bought my GOQii band on December 25th and Dr. Afsha Shaikh is my coach.

I discussed my lifestyle with my coach and we zeroed in on my health goal. My first health goal was to get into a regular exercise regime, daily target to clock 13k steps and an increase my intake of protein which I lacked.

My coach got me into regular exercising. She also altered my diet. Instead of having three heavy meals a day. I started having small and frequent meals. I have also started including fruits in my diet which were missing earlier. Many of what my coach added to my diet were something I was aware of but never got around to having them. My water intake was also poor prior to GOQii and now I drink 2.5 litres of water daily without fail.

I have learnt a lot by being on the GOQii platform. While researching on health and fitness I remember reading “traditional thought suggests that having a healthy diet and getting aerobic exercise will offset the effects of time spent being sedentary. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, you may not be able to counteract the effects brought on by the lack of activity throughout the rest of your day. Rather, the solution seems to be less sitting and more moving overall”.

That is exactly what my coach got me to do. She got me to start moving. My coach helped me set small goals and also guided me on how to achieve it. Today, I feel good about myself and more energetic. I am also fitter than before.

What does Coach Dr. Afsha Shaikh have to say about player Hemanth Kumar?

Hemanth Kumar had a long term goal to lose fat, extra inches, and weight. We had set some small term goals to increase fiber intake and I must say he was one of my dedicated players who has been following his goals seriously. Also, he has been very good with maintaining his step count which has reflects his enthusiasm in doing some good physical activity. On the days he could not complete his step count, he would make up for the loss over the weekend.  Initially, we had decided on exercising in the morning then when he got on the night shift he could not do morning exercises and therefore, we decided we would do exercises as and when possible. This decision suited him appropriately and he became more regular with his exercise.

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“100 KM trail walk was a personality altering, life changing experience for me”

Vandana with her team after the successful completion of her 2nd 100 Km trail walk in Nov 2015.

Vandana with her team after the successful completion of her 2nd 100 Km trail walk in Nov 2015.

Nobody better than her can prove that small steps can have a big impact. From being a bookworm all her life to walking 100 km for charity was the biggest high in her life. And since then it has been long before she has been walking her way to health and fitness. As of now Vandana Trivedi has completed two trail walks, has a regular fitness regime, treks regularly and also is going for a seven-day climbing course to the Himalayas. While someone who is as active as Vandana would seem a perfect match for a GOQii device, she didn’t start wearing one until a year ago. Vandana’s story in her own words.


I metamorphosed just a couple of years ago from being extremely inactive to becoming active. I was introduced to GOQii by my friend Harpreet and I did my first 100 Km trail walk when she suggested we walk one for charity. Initially, GOQii for me was my gateway to this 100 Km charity walk in December 2014. To my utter amazement, I successfully completed the 100 Km. I just loved it—the atmosphere, people cheering for you, and crossing the finish line felt so great. I was so sore after that I could barely walk the next day, but I loved the way I felt.

That was the start of me believing that I can do much more than just gym training. The success of the 100 KM led to a clear shift in my overall confidence and I felt nothing was impossible. GOQii has brought about a major transformation in me, from the perspective of being fit and healthy.

Prior to GOQii, I was happily inactive. As a child, I would never like to step out of my home. Given a choice between playing a game in the outdoor and reading a book. I would choose the latter without a second thought. I would dread the PT (Physical Training) period in school for the simple reason that they would make you run and do exercises.

But then, all this changed for me for the better. 100 KM trail walk was a personality altering, life changing experience for me, and has been a means to prove to myself that someone who had nothing to do with fitness /physical activity as a child can end up being called an Ultra Marathoner if you want it badly enough.

During my first 100 Km trail walk, I saw immense value in one- to-one coaching. I also had this huge issue of acidity. While I was aware of my problem, for some reason the issue was not getting solved. My GOQii coach then recommended that I have plain lime juice 3 times a day. Lime is also acidic and when that gets into the body it becomes alkaline. That was a good advice I got from my coach and it has helped me immensely. I have gotten over my acidity problem. Now when I go for meetings I order a plain lime juice. I also got help in improving my nutrition and sleep.

Ever since I came on the GOQii platform, I have become a great advocate of GOQii. I lead a sales team in an asset management company. Rather than taking clients on foreign junkets as client engagement, I decided to follow the health route and gifted everyone a GOQii band. We engage with our clients through active Sundays. We do small things to keep them active and the feedback I have got from my clients is that it has made a significant difference to their lives. In fact 11 of them even participated in the 100 km trail walk in 2015. For me, this is like a payback to good health. My ambition is to get more people on GOQii platform.

Personally, I have become so active that today I climb 10 floors daily and three days a week I have a personal trainer with whom I work out. Two Saturdays a month I go trekking as I am part of a trekking group.

Without having something to work towards, you can’t plan or dream of what you’re going to accomplish. As my activities slowly and steadily increased I realized I wanted to aim for something big. I wanted to push myself further. So why not test my mettle with a climbing course in the Himalayas. I have signed up for a seven-day climbing course in Himachal and currently, I have been training for it. I will be leaving for my course soon. But, I would say, the goal doesn’t have to be huge, it can be to walk 10 km a week, start small but, stay focused.

What does Coach TejalGupte have to say about Vandana Trivedi?

Vandana has been my player since May 2015. She has always been a self-motivated and determined person. When she joined GOQii, I could see her as a person who knew the importance of workouts and balanced diet for good health and was leading a quite healthy lifestyle to achieve this. She has always been an adventurous person who loves trekking. According to her trekking is her motivation to stay fit and be regular with workouts. Her only major concern when she joined GOQii was stress and long term acidity. And hence, we started working on these goals immediately. Meditative yoga and deep breathing were incorporated to the routine to help knock off the stress and small frequents meal along with lemon water post lunch and dinner was basically targeted to help curb the acidity. She was very open to adding healthy changes in her existing routine and adapted to them very well. Along with this, we also focused on daily workouts, for which I also threw a couple of workout challenges to her. Then November 2015 she did her 2nd 100 KM trail walk and successfully completed the walk in 39 hours.

You can read more about Vandana’s experience of her First 100 Km Trail Walk here

http://goqii.com/blog/5-lessons-learnt-from-100-km-trail-walk/

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GOQii supports International Wheelchair Fencer Vibhas Sen

Vibhas Sen seen here wearing the GOQii band and competing with the Malaysian wheelchair Fencer at the Asian Championship in Hong Kong

Vibhas Sen seen here wearing the GOQii band and competing with the Malaysian wheelchair Fencer at the Asian Championship in Hong Kong

Living with a disability is not always easy – there are physical constraints, sometimes even in performing day to day chores. And our country does not provide for all those facilities that can make the life of a differently abled easy. It is often a challenge to find something to do, leave alone performing well in it. However, the human spirit is known to overcome physical and mental barriers to achieve their dreams. Vibhas Sen is a fine example of the above and has excelled both as a Paralympic swimmer and an International Wheelchair Fencer.

GOQii, the Health and Lifestyle company are proud to support Vibhas with coaching and nutrition guidelines to help him get fitter in his run up to the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

Vibhas, who is now in his early 30s and works with a digital advertising firm has a very tough daily routine. He goes to work in the morning and after work heads straight for his practice and finishes his day by 10.30 pm. He says, “I was looking for a fitness tracker to measure my fitness and also get some guidance on nutrition. Fencing is a tough and tiring sport and requires a great deal of physical strength”. GOQii has provided Vibhas with the wearable and personalized coaching who will track his fitness and advise him on his nutrition and other aspects. Luke Coutinho, the Master Coach at GOQii will be personally overlooking his progress.

“I am glad I have a coach who will monitor my progress daily and advise me on what to eat and what not to, how much to work out etc. Technology will bridge the gap for me,” says Vibhas.

Vibhas was born normal to his parents. But, at the age of 3 he was detected with Polio and since then he has been wheelchair bound. He was always interested in sports and wanted to play a sport. When he was in class 6, he aimed to learn swimming but, he only faced rejection from all the pools and coaches who refrained from taking me him on board. They told him he cannot learn swimming. So he dropped the idea and continued with his studies and led an extremely monotonous life. Although nothing deterred him from dreaming big.

It was at the age of 26 that he came across an article on swimming and he says, “After reading that article about a paraplegic swimming, I said to myself there is certainly light and the end of the tunnel. All is not so grim and dark.” He found a coach for swimming in Rajaram Garg who is the first paraplegic to swim the English Channel. “Under his guidance, I started swimming. Initially, it was more for recreation and the best part I liked was that the others in the pool were also differently abled. So I wasn’t alone.”

Vibhas was a regular at swimming for the sheer joy of it. Then one day his coach asked him to participate in a swimming competition in Pune and he won a Silver medal. That was the beginning of Vibhas taking up swimming seriously and at a professional level. He participated in many competitions and won two national level para-swimming events and several other state and district level awards within a year of taking up professional swimming.

“After swimming for a year, I wanted to try out another sport which was more challenging and something that I could pursue for a longer time. A sport where age factor will not be a constraint. And I found fencing interesting,” says Vibhas.

There are only 3 coaches in entire Mumbai for Fencing. Vibhas found a coach in Santosh Shejwal who is a National Institute of Sports Certified coach and was only coaching able-bodied persons. When Vibhas approached him he was not sure if he could coach him. Nevertheless, Shejwal said let’s give it a try. Within a year, Vibhas was quickly spotted by the National selectors of Wheelchair Fencing Federation of India to represent India. He then went on to get selected for the Wheelchair Fencing world Cup in Hungary in November 2014 and the grand Prix in Dec 2014 in Hong Kong.

Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with a disability. The sport is governed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation that is a federation of the International Paralympic Committee. Currently, Vibhas is in Hong Kong competing in the Asian Wheelchair Fencing championship. This is in a run up to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

Vibhas needs to participate in at least five international wheelchair fencing events in order to be eligible for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Due to lack of support from the National federation, Vibhas, has been funding his international competition participation through some corporate sponsorships and through crowd funding. He says, “It’s been difficult to raise funds. Last international competition I raised funds through crowd funding. If I am able to raise funds I will go for these events”. His current Asian championship has been sponsored by Essar Foundation.

Vibhas Sen seated in the Centre with his India team

Vibhas Sen seated in the Centre with his India team

Despite so many constraints, Vibhas is confident of making it to the Paralympics. In his own words, “When someone says you can’t do it, you have got to secretly thank them. Let’s face it, proving them wrong is a huge motivator”. Vibhas’ larger goal is to win a gold in the Olympics.

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“If I am fit, my family is fit”

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He had bordered close to being overweight due to an inactive and erratic lifestyle. He blamed it on his job in the real estate sector. Secondly, he has been an asthmatic since his kinder days and has been on medication for the same. The medication has created problems in his eyes so much so that it was on the verge of leading to Glaucoma. He wanted to rectify his state of health. Moreover, his wife was into regular fitness but, he never heeded her advice. Although he was always aware he had to get better for himself and his family. Riteish’s story in his own words.    

I am in the real estate business and I have been in this industry for the last 20 years. My lifestyle has been extremely erratic and I used to binge a lot especially at night. My job is such that I never had my meals on time. As a result used to eat anything anytime. When I was younger it was fine I could cope with it. But, as age catches up this kind of erratic lifestyle brings with it several medical issues. I already am an asthmatic since my kinder days.

But, the one good thing that I have learned from my parents is to get an annual medical check-up done. This annual check-up gives you a clear indication of where you stand in terms of your health statistics. I wasn’t in good shape as per the reports. I was 95 kilos, sugar was borderline, hypertension could have become a concern and due to my asthmatic medication, the pressure in my eye was high which could eventually lead to Glaucoma I was told by my doctor. The net result of all these issues was that I was not in good shape. I wanted to change but, I was not able to do anything on my own.

My wife is very regular with her fitness and even runs marathons. She was running the marathon early this Jan and I had gone with her to the expo to collect her BIB. On my way out, I stopped by at the GOQii stall. I started chatting with one of the GOQii personnel who was explaining GOQii and its concept to me. I found it appealing.  

I immediately chose GOQii for its comfort, ease of use, design, tracking features and above all the coaching factor and Karma points – all of which I loved. My physical activity will appear on my wrist using one button which makes it super easy to use. Having all my stats linked, recorded, and easily accessible on my phone and be monitored regularly by my coach who would be able to easily check-in on my progress seemed fantastic to me.

I spoke to my coach Dr. Amrita Saghu and discussed my problems with her in detail. My health goal was to lose 10 kilos within 3-4 months. She brought about a few changes in my lifestyle. I started to go for brisk walks, playing Tennis, made changes in food with the inclusion of fruits.

She also gave me weekly challenges such a sugar-free week, increasing AB exercises, stair climbing –first slow and then increased the intensity. Over the last three months since I have got the band I have been doing a whole lot. On a daily basis, I have been clocking an average of 12-13K steps. I have also started playing Tennis seriously.

Sometimes when I think about myself and how I went in for GOQii program, I find it funny. Funny because my wife is into fitness and a trainer herself but, never once did I bother to listen to her and her warnings. Every time she would ask me to get back on track I would make excuses. But, when I realized I had gone overboard with being unhealthy and decided to go in for a fitness band. It is after I got on the GOQii platform that I realized I had to remove time for myself and my health. If I do not make an effort then nobody can help me.

The lifestyle change has done well for me. I work out regularly, I am conscious about what I am eating and my meals are more wholesome now. My asthma is also under control. As per my health goal that I had set for myself I have part reached my goal. In 3 months I have lost about 7 kilos. My target is to get to 78 kilos. Proper nutrition and exercise tips helped him to get back on track. I have attended one or two GOQii active Sundays and also attended Luke Coutinho’s webinar on how to get the best out of your coach.

Tracking my physical activity through GOQii inspires me to keep moving. With so much on I can overcome time challenge by regularly monitoring my daily steps and pushing myself to make sure I reach my target if I feel I’m falling short. My coach and my own effort are helping me hit my target of 12k-13k steps walking and through other activities each day. ‘If I am fit my family is fit’.

How do I feel about myself? I feel great about myself. I am more confident and above all, I feel very positive. My happiness knew no bounds when I went to the store to buy myself a T-shirt and instead of an XXL I, this time around picked an XL T-shirt. My wife is also happy about the change I have undergone. People around me are all seeing this change in me and are amazed.

 What does Coach Dr. Amrita Saghu have to say about RiteishParwani?

Riteish has been an active person right from the start. His goal was weight reduction. We started with regularizing his diet which was erratic prior to joining GOQii. There were large gaps between his main meals that were contributing to him eating unhealthy food on a regular basis. Apart from that, he would eat a heavy meal in one sitting. After getting on the GOQii platform he has become very conscious about what he eats. We added fruits and salads in his daily diet. The gap between his meals was reduced. Healthy snacks were introduced. His own efforts and dedication were enormous. He would share his exercise plans, diet plans with me daily. We would talk about the health benefits of the fruit or vegetable that he would be having later in the day. He also suffers from Asthma, with the exercise and the medicines he is experiencing a lot of improvement. His commitment towards his health is excellent. The two things that we work together on are Riteish’s effort and dedication and GOQii’s coaching which has helped him achieve his goals. I am sure that Riteish’s success story will inspire a lot of people who want to lead a healthy life.

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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